Six Fakes About the UAP Archives: What the US Department of War Actually Released

Shortly after the US Department of War published declassified archives on unidentified anomalous phenomena — predominantly dating from 1947 to 1968 — on its website, various interpretations began circulating across social media and the press. These narratives falsely claim the documents provide proof of extraterrestrial life and alien contact. This fact-checking review breaks down the most viral of these claims.

On May 8, 2026, the US Department of War published files regarding Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) as part of an initiative to increase transparency and systematize historical data. The release falls under the Presidential Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Records Declassification and Reporting System (PURSUE). This interagency effort involves the White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Defense’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), NASA, the FBI, and other agencies within the US intelligence community. The complete collection of materials is available on the official website: https://www.war.gov/UFO/. Below is an analysis of the fake claims and misinterpretations currently circulating online in the wake of this release.

• Fake #1: The declassified reports officially confirm the existence of aliens.

The central narrative surrounding this highly anticipated release has been the claim, heavily amplified on social media, that the disclosed materials prove the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations.

The Facts:

The fact that the posted files do not constitute proof of alien life is explicitly stated on the department’s own website.

The source fueling these rumors is the massive volume of unverified raw data included in the archives: eyewitness accounts, media reports, and specialized literature on the topic.

A distinct category within this data consists of reports regarding alleged encounters with aliens — the exact topic driving the most hype on social networks. A prime example is a post quoting directly from the archive: “Multiple witnesses reported seeing crew members who landed from these objects, ranging from three and a half to four feet tall, wearing suits and helmets resembling spacesuits.”

In this instance, users are mistakenly interpreting the official formatting of the archives — classification markings, official letterheads, seals, and publication on a government domain — as an endorsement of the content’s factual accuracy. In doing so, many overlook that these records are merely documented retellings of third-party claims, which cannot be considered reliable, official proof of extraterrestrial life.

• Fake #2: The declassified reports reveal that humans not only saw aliens but also made contact with them.

Following the publication of the archives, claims surfaced online alleging that human contact with an anthropomorphic cat-like creature took place in Nevada in 1994. The narrative suggests the entity was examined and subsequently released.

The Facts:

No documentation regarding such an encounter exists on the website hosting the files — neither for the year 1994 nor for any prior period.

Furthermore, the document image attached to the viral posts features a header attributing it to the “Department of War.” However, the official name of the US defense ministry in 1994 was the Department of Defense.

The designation “Department of War” was historically used in the 1940s, after which the agency was renamed to the Department of Defense. The old moniker was only officially reinstated in 2025 — via an executive order by Donald Trump — meaning it could not possibly have appeared on a legitimate government document in 1994.

No credible sources corroborating this document have been found; its existence is isolated entirely to social media posts.

It is also worth noting that anthropomorphic cat-girls (“furries”) are a pervasive pop-culture trope heavily popularized through anime, comics, and video games, making it a highly appealing motif for internet pranksters crafting viral fakes.

• Fake #3: The FBI captured a UFO on camera.

An image of a flying object, allegedly photographed by the FBI in September 2023, has been gaining traction across social platforms.

The Facts:

While the image is indeed published on the UAP files website, the official caption reads: “Actual site photo with FBI Lab rendered graphic overlay depicting corroborating eyewitness reports from September 2023 of an apparent ellipsoid bronze metallic object materializing out of a bright light in the sky, 130-195 feet in length, and disappearing instantaneously.”

Therefore, the image presented on the Department of War website is not a photograph of a UFO, but a forensic visualization — a graphically rendered composite sketch created by the FBI Lab to illustrate unverified eyewitness descriptions.

• Fake #4: During the Apollo 17 mission, aliens made contact with NASA astronauts and ordered them to leave the Moon forever.

According to online claims, the released files contain records of multiple UFO encounters in space. To bolster this, one poster cites a “Japanese NASA historian” named Takano Jousen, alleging that Apollo 17 lunar module pilot Eugene Cernan confessed in a private conversation that aliens had transmitted a direct telepathic message ordering him never to return to the Moon. The user argues this encounter is the true reason NASA shuttered the Apollo program.

The Facts:

There is no record of a Japanese NASA historian by that name ever contacting Cernan, nor are there any corresponding statements from Cernan himself. Fact-checkers did, however, find mentions of a Japanese ufologist bearing that name. It is crucial to clarify that ufology is not a recognized academic science and is not bound by standard scientific procedures for data verification.

While the official archives do confirm that astronauts observed unexplained light phenomena during the 1972 mission, there is absolutely no mention of any telepathic contact in the declassified transcripts or records.

As for the termination of the Apollo program, historical records thoroughly document that it was canceled due to shifting political priorities and severe budget constraints.

• Fake #5: The declassified archives include video footage of an alien.

Following the release of the official UAP files, videos falsely attributed to the declassified archives began circulating widely.

The Facts:

Contrary to these claims, this video does not exist anywhere on the official website. Furthermore, the declassified files contain absolutely no video footage of anthropomorphic creatures, nor do credible sources offer any corroborating reports of their existence.

• Fake #6: Images of aliens were discovered within the released archives.

Images that appear to be frames captured from military radar screens are being shared online with the claim that they were unearthed from the newly declassified archives.

The Facts:

No such “photos” of aliens have been found on war.gov. Furthermore, forensic AI-detection tools indicate a high probability that these images were generated using artificial intelligence.

Bottom Line:
The PURSUE document release contains zero proof of extraterrestrial civilizations, no video footage of anthropomorphic beings, and no documented instances of telepathic contact. The sensational interpretations trending on social media are based entirely on unreliable sources — specifically, third-hand eyewitness accounts taken out of context, or completely fabricated imagery generated by graphic editing software and AI tools. None of the viral claims analyzed above have any factual backing within the Department of War’s official materials.

_{© Article cover photo credit: U.S. Department of War}